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Earthquakes, georisk assessment

Collapsed University Building in Bantul/Yogyakarta on the island of Java (Indonesia)Source: BGR

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, glacial lake outbursts, mud flows and sudden subsidence are natural disasters which may endanger peoples´s lives and may cause tremendous damage and enormous economic costs. Frequently, the dangers involved are not recognized early enough to avoid larger damage. For this reason, geoscientists attempt to understand causes and mechanisms of natural disasters. Such knowledge will help to develop methods to prevent disasters or at least mitigate the damage. Successful mitigation measures have been applied for example in areas that are endangered by imminent landslides or glacial lake outbursts.

There are some natural disasters, such as earthquakes that cannot be prevented. In such cases, geoscientists try to predict, which regions are especially at risk and try to quantify the likelihood of the occurrence of such a events .